Union hero!

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kiryan
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Union hero!

Postby kiryan » Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:10 pm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... ns_opinion

article suggesting that Obama just made a rule that any construction project bigger than 25 million has to be unionized. It actually says there must be a "project labor agreement" which is being construed as "unionizing".

"The federal rule, which went live yesterday, implements an executive order President Obama signed within weeks of taking office. It encourages federal agencies to require "project labor agreements" for all construction projects larger than $25 million. This means that only contractors that agree to union representation are eligible for work financed by the U.S. taxpayer.
...
Industry groups are now threatening legal action to defend the rights of workers who will be denied employment for the crime of not sporting Obama-Biden bumper stickers."

Thanks Obama for freeing washington from the poisonous influence of special interests!

------

and since budgetary issues are on everyone's mind. Maybe we should cut the middle man out! You know those evil insurance companies and the evil student lenders? If we cut evil unions out, we can save anywhere from 9% to 20% on federal construction projects!

"Obama project labor agreements would likely raise the VA's construction costs for hospitals by as much as 9% in three of five markets—Denver, New Orleans and Orlando. In two others, New York and San Francisco, the study predicted a mixture of small cost increases and small cost savings.
...
The study reported "strong evidence to suggest that the result of a PLA [project labor agreement] that dictates work rules, double benefits, team structure and activities on non-union type contractors will be that production costs will increase—given these union-related requirements."
...
The Veterans study mirrors academic work showing that project labor agreements raise the costs of construction by 10% to 20%. The Beacon Hill Institute at Boston's Suffolk University in 2006 investigated the costs of building 126 Boston-area schools. It found project labor agreements raised winning bids for school construction projects by 12% and actual construction costs by 14%.
...
Boston's Big Dig, Seattle's Safeco field, Los Angeles's Eastside Reservoir project, the San Francisco airport, Detroit's Comerica Park—all were built under PLAs marked by embarrassing cost overruns. We'd list more, but newsprint is expensive."
teflor the ranger
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Re: Union hero!

Postby teflor the ranger » Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:19 pm

Forcing workers to sign off on blanket labor agreements? Hey, I got this crazy idea, if we're going to do that, why don't we fine them $1,000 for not buying healthcare? Freedom for all! You have a choice - choose to obey or else.
Ragorn
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Re: Union hero!

Postby Ragorn » Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:56 pm

Good. More money to the little guy, and less to big business. Gets people off food stamps, the subject of the other tear-ridden post you made today. I do like how you're whining about both the problem AND the solution though, that's classy.
teflor the ranger
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Re: Union hero!

Postby teflor the ranger » Wed Apr 14, 2010 8:05 pm

What bullshit solution?

Under Restructuring, GM To Build More Cars Overseas
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 04336.html

Ballmer Says Tax Would Move Microsoft Jobs Offshore
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... KluP7yIwJY

Perhaps You Too Can Order U.S. Census Gear From China
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/publius ... china.html

More money to the little guy? More like, more money to the little guy in China. More Americans on food stamps. More Americans looking for jobs. Are you kidding me? Unions don't create jobs. They encourage employers to look for labor elsewhere.
Todrael
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Re: Union hero!

Postby Todrael » Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:41 pm

We didn't want those jobs anyway. Or were you going to be the one to work for $2 an hour, 10 hours a day, every day, in very dangerous conditions, living in company housing, buying from the company store, ready to be fired at any time for any reason, to undercut the Chinese? Talk about 'soft slavery'...
Sarvis
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Re: Union hero!

Postby Sarvis » Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:58 pm

It's only soft slavery if the government does it!
teflor the ranger
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Re: Union hero!

Postby teflor the ranger » Wed Apr 14, 2010 11:21 pm

Todrael wrote:We didn't want those jobs anyway. Or were you going to be the one to work for $2 an hour, 10 hours a day, every day, in very dangerous conditions, living in company housing, buying from the company store, ready to be fired at any time for any reason, to undercut the Chinese? Talk about 'soft slavery'...

Except Hyundai and Toyota opened factories in the United States where the workforce is unfriendly to unions. They're making $14-$19 an hour and doing quite well. (Hell, they even get to keep their jobs.)

Which... basically makes your $2 an hour dangerous work conditions thing a whole giant pile of bullshit.
Todrael
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Re: Union hero!

Postby Todrael » Wed Apr 14, 2010 11:33 pm

So which is it? Are we losing jobs to China, or are we getting excellent pay at brand new factories?
teflor the ranger
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Re: Union hero!

Postby teflor the ranger » Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:46 am

Both at the same time. It depends on how friendly the local labor market is to employers.

Factory Openings (last presidential vote):
Mississippi (Republican) - http://www.automobilemag.com/features/n ... index.html
Georgia (Republican) - http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/b ... _open.html
Alabama (Republican) - http://www.hmmausa.com/releases_detail.aspx?id=69

Factory Closings:
Ohio (Democrat) - http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/19/ohio.p ... index.html
California (Democrat) - http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 74680.html
Deleware (Democrat) - http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/200 ... wood_N.htm

Now to be fair, automotive plants in the US are closing all over the place, including states that voted for either party. But the factory openings, on the other hand...

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